Luke Berry will become a Luton centurion if he features against Birmingham City and manager Nathan Jones has hailed the League Two marquee signing that was bought with the Championship in mind.
The 28-year-old was bought from Cambridge United three years ago for an undisclosed fee and helped the Hatters to consecutive promotions.
On Saturday, in his 99th appearance, Berry scored in the 1-1 Championship draw against Blackburn Rovers, his second of the season and 14th in total for Town.
Jones said: “We want him to get goals as we paid real good money for him at the time. The board really backed our judgement on that and paid a lot of money for a League Two side to bring in someone like Luke and he’s repaid that as he’s scored goals at every level he’s been at and that’s the good thing.
“He’s an all-round midfielder, he does a lot of things, but he’s also brilliant around the place and excellent in the changing room, so we didn’t just sign a really good player for us, we signed a wonderful human being and that has enabled us to move forward as a club.”
Berry found appearances hard to come by in the first half of last term under former boss Graeme Jones, but he’s been one of the most consistent performers since under the current manager.
The Welshman said: “He’s been absolutely magnificent, we brought him in as a goalscoring midfielder, he was the highest goalscoring midfielder in the lower leagues and that’s why we bought him in.
“He was a marquee signing at the time, but someone we had an eye on always being able to play in the Championship and he’s proving that.
“Again (it’s the) same conversation we had about Sonny Bradley, Matty Person, people like that. We recruited these in League Two and they are now still producing in the Championship, so it just rubber-stamps our recruitment process, rubber stamps the eye we had on people and (I’m) just so, so delighted as he’s a great lad, trains brilliantly, done well at every level.
“He picked up an injury which set him back a little bit, but came back even stronger and delighted that he’s ours.”
In 2018 Berry suffered a horrific leg break while playing against Colchester United. He returned five months later in a six-minute cameo in a 1-0 Carabao Cup defeat at West Bromwich Albion, but it was not until the Christmas period that year that he returned.
Jones said: “It shows great character, shows the medical department, shows the work we put into them, and shows a real desire of the lad to do well.
“We love him here, he’s done fantastically well for us. (He) never, ever lets me down and, to be honest with you, over-exerts himself to the maximum for me. We love him here, we have since we brought him in and he’s a key member of everything we do.”
